Not an ordinary school

Happy February! I hope all is well with you guys. Things have been great here, busy as always, but still pretty awesome.

I know I told you all about my schedule this semester, but my entire post this week is about my classes so I'm going to tell you again. All my classes are on Tuesday and Thursday and last for 1 and 15 minutes each. I have Human Rights, Rhetorical Criticisms, Introduction to Sexuality, and Popular Fictions.

These classes seem pretty different, but you would be extremely surprised at how much overlap there is. I know that I have explained the term "Liberal Arts" before, but to those who haven't followed along it essentially means interdisciplinary learning for the sake of learning. Transy adheres to that philosophy, and takes it pretty seriously. This has really became evident in my classes this semester.

One day last week, my readings in all four classes were so interrelated I couldn't keep them separate. In Human Rights we were discussing the Catholic Church's role in human rights in Spain. In Rhetoric we were talking about the communication practices of oppressed groups. In Intro to Sexuality we were talking about the Catholic Church's role on same sex marriage in Spain, and in Pop Fiction we were discussing the hidden sexuality message in the novel Dracula.

Can you say wow? I literally caught myself citing the reading from different courses on that day, and stuff like this keeps happening. My classes today fell outside of the realm of ordinary today as well. In Rhetoric we did a narrative criticism of the video game "Medal of Honor: Rising Sun." That means we literally spent over an hour talking about a video game. Then in Intro to Sexuality we watched an episode of "Sex and the City" and next class session we'll be watching "The Bachelor."

Obviously, classes at Transy can be extremely interesting. When you learn for the fun of it the topics you discuss can mirror that level of fun pretty easily.

Let's get this party (re)started!

Hey guys,

It has been a while! The end of the semester hit me hard, in the face, with extreme force. I barely had time to sleep; I apologize though. I hope no one was too distraught by my absence.

As you could have guessed, it's a new semester. To the high school seniors reading this: take a deep breath because you are in for a wild ride! (Though maybe not if you're getting as much snow as we are. Snow Days are definitely rampant this winter!)

For this blog, I figured I would share with you a bit of advice, that is embedded in my new year/new semester resolution: READ! I'm sure you all know as well as I do, that in high school "required readings" in classes other than perhaps English aren't that big of a deal. You can usually skim stuff, look at the chapter overview, or get away with not reading it at all. It has taken me three semesters to learn this but: THAT IS NOT THE CASE IN COLLEGE!

Part of the reason I became so behind last semester, and was thus so stressed at the end of the semester, was because I hadn't kept up with my required readings. While I didn't necessarily feel behind during the middle of the semester, I was given study guides for finals and all of the sudden I realized how much material I had missed because of my choice to not complete the assigned readings.

Another tip that I picked up since we last met (and I use the term 'met' loosely, of course) is the power of group studying. One of the reasons reading/studying writing is so hard to get motivated for is because you are missing out on "hang out" time with friends. A simple solution is to just make studying a social activity. Even if you don't have any of the same classes, I've recently realized that you can have a blast just sitting at a table together in the library. My study group consists of a Transy senior, two Transy juniors and a nursing student at UK. We are all studying something vastly different, but it helps to be able to stop once in a while and just discuss material with someone that might be unfamiliar with it. This is especially useful with writing.

But anyway, I think that is enough advice for one blog. Before I go, however, I have to update you all on an earleir post. I had mentioned a semester long internship with Disney that I might be participating in. Just wanted to let you know that I decided, for the time being, against attending for a variety of reasons. I am, however, working with the Career Development Center to get a summer internship with The Herald Leader (Lexington's daily newspaper). Hopefully that'll work out well for me! :)

-Jake

Funerals, Sickness, and Politics

Hello people. I can honestly say I hope you all have had a better time than I since my last blog. Not that I'm not thankful for Thanksgiving and the break is brought with it, but when it is coupled with a grandmother's funeral and a very nasty stomach bug, it is just not as enjoyable.
Don't worry, I won't be all gloomy for this blog, so you can keep reading. Other than that things haven't been that bad, and, really, the death in my family made me realize how lucky I am to be at such a great school. I emailed my professors and work study supervisor and let them know that I had to leave a few days before Thanksgiving break. This was on a Sunday, and within 4 hours all had responded with their condolences and assurances that I would be excused and would be helped to catch up upon my return.

Now that Thanksgiving break 2010 is history, there are only 2 weeks of classes and a week of finals remaining. It really is a scary thought. I have so much to do, but I'm sure I'll be able to make it. Plus I have the Christmas season to help me make it through.

I've told you before I live off campus this year, which means I have a living room in which to put up a full-size Christmas tree! I am pretty much in love with it. It is a cozy feeling to be able to study beside it :)

This week will also feature something pretty exciting. Though I'm not exactly on par with her political beliefs, Sarah Palin will be in Lexington to sign copies of her newest book at Joseph Beth Booksellers. I will be going there to cover the event as per my duties as News Editor. We are calling around trying in desperation to secure even just 5 minutes worth of time to interview her (I mean seriously, how awesome would that be to interview a possible Presidential candidate?) Keep your fingers crossed for us, and I'll let you know how it goes. At the very least I should be able to interview her spokesperson or something...

Major, Registration, etc.

Hey guys, I hope everything has been going well for you all. Everything is going great here, my favorite time of year is slowly creeping up (I'm sorry, I love Christmas). I just bought decorations for my apartment, and I'm itching to put them up!

Currently, however, I'm hard at work with trying to decide my schedule for next semester and May Term (In case you don't know, May Term is a month-long semester at Transy where you take one class everyday). It will be a new experience, because Transy has moved to an online registration system. It will be new for all of us. I hope it goes well.

I don't think I've ever announced it on here, but I recently declared my major! I originally came into Transy planning to major in Political Science. However, after taking some courses from poly sci and other subjects, I ultimately decided on a different route (and this is totally doable. At Transy, you don't ever declare a major you first year, so you can change your mind). My major is, officially: Writing, Rhetoric, and Communication. Popularly called WRC, this major is unique to Transy and combines your traditional Communication major with an emphasis on writing and more focus on classical communication (and some Philosophy). I really enjoy it, and I'm still minoring in Political Science.

Now that I've declared a major I was allowed to pick a new adviser. When you come to Transy you are assigned a random adviser, that may not be in your field of study. I loved my assigned adviser, but it was definitely beneficial for me to pick one in my major. We've already met several times, and I've got a great plan mapped out for the rest of my time at Transy.

I will let you guys know how registration goes. Keep your fingers crossed for me in hopes that the courses I want aren't full before my turn to register!

Come as you are.

Hey guys, I'll just keep typing and pretend the whole two week lapse in blogging didn't happen. :)

I'm typing this blog update hoping it calms me down a bit, and keeps me awake. I just received a rather exciting phone call a few hours ago telling me that I will soon be an uncle. Labor and delivery of Liam Kole (love the name!) has begun. It's 2:17am and I'm sitting in my living room waiting on my mom to come get here so we can go to Louisville together to welcome the baby! Hopefully we make it there before he makes it out ! :)

Anyway, this week I want to talk to you about how accepting the Transy community is. To sum it all up, and forgive my lack of creativity in this statement: Transy is an accepting, affirming, and open community (at least in my experiences) and I love it.

I come from a place where differences whether they be in thought, lifestyle, or politics aren't always encouraged. I knew when looking for a college I wanted to go to a place that encouraged discourse, and was accepting of everyone. Transy, and really Lexington in general really did strike me as that place.

Last week, on October 20, a nationwide, grassroots movement took place, and was dubbed "Spirit Day." You may have seen the many facebook groups about it. The idea was to wear purple, which represents spirit, in memory of the teens and young adults that have recently committed suicide as a result of bullying due to sexual identity, perceived or factual (Tyler Clementi of Rutgers University is one of the many you may have heard of.) Wearing purple was a tribute to their memory, but was also a call to arms to end bullying and discrimination.

I knew from the moment I heard of the campaign that I would wear purple, and the same could be said for several of my close friends. I, however, did not expect the scene that I was greeted with when walking onto campus on the 20th. Students, faculty and staff everywhere seemed to be participating. It was overwhelming, it really was. I would say close to half of the student body wore purple (just by looking, no actual figures) and there were several professors wearing purple too.

It was extremely heartening to see it, it really was. The fact that so many of my peers cared about an issue and took a stance was incredible-- the fact that it was an issue close to my heart made it even more special. It was one of those moments in your college career where you stop and just think "Wow, I made the right choice in coming here."

Update to come tomorrow!

Hey guys, I knormally update on Sunday but I'm going to hold off until tomorrow this week. There is an event occurring on campus tomorrow that I'd like to tell you about.

Until then,

Jake

Expanding my Transy Experience

Hey guys, I hope this week has treated you all well and that you're weekend has been fun and relaxing. Due to a minor injury (running related) I had to take the weekend off from work, so I got to enjoy myself much more than I would if I had to wake up at 4:30am to be into work by 5am to serve coffee.

My week started off pretty stressful, actually. The weight of all my classes, extracurriculars, work, and everything else really pressed hard on me. After a bit of re-prioritizing, though, everything started running pretty smoothly.

On Wednesday, I received a rather big surprise in the mail. I was accepted into the Walt Disney College Internship Program. The program is a 7-month long, off campus, experience that will, hopefully, give me great experience with one of the largest companies in the world. In addition to the internship, which is paid, you live in Disney World-- which you have to admit will be pretty awesome. When you're not working/interning, you take classes at the on site university. You also have unlimited, free access to all the parks!

Now, before I say for sure I'm going I have a few things I have to do. Obviously, this has to be approved by Transy. I've already been approved for 2 units of credit for the internship portion. Now, to remain full time, I just have to get the registrar to approve the courses onsite as distance learning courses through Transy. Transy has had students participate in this program before, so I don't really anticipate much hesitance. I'll keep you updated, though.

Now, I'll obviously be leaving campus for this, but I think I will be okay with it. A vast majority of students at Transy study abroad, so having a few friends being gone for a semester is somewhat normal at Transy.

Anyway, the excitement surrounding this acceptance has really been all I have been able to think about this week, so, naturally, that's all I can blog about. Maybe next week I'll have something a bit more Transy oriented for you!

Happy October!

Jake Hawkins